Refrigerator



Dec. 23, 1941. c. H. STEENSTRUP REFRIGERATOR 1 Filed April 24, 1940 Pig. 1.

Inventor Carl H. steenstrup, Dy /W His Attorney.

Patented Dec. 1941' REFRIGERATOR can a. Steenstrup, Schenectady, N. r., asaignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 24, 1940, Serial No. 331,441

6Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to cooling elements or the like provided in refrigerators for cooling the interior thereof. I

In refrigerator cabinets of the type having cooling element or refrigerant evaporator and'a drip tray or food storage receptacle therebelow,

In accordance with my invention I have provided a door assembly for a refrigerant evaporator which remedies this condition. I have also provided a door assembly including a member arranged substantially to seal the front of the cooling element or evaporator in order to minimize the circulation of air therethrough and thereby maintain the temperature within the evaporator at a relatively low degree for any given setting of the refrigerator system control. Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved door assemblyjfor minimizing the circulation of air through the cooling element.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved decorative door assembly in which condensation on the outer surface thereof and dripping therefrom is minimized.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceedsand the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out .with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention,-

reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a refrigerator of the domestic type illustrating. an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 isan enlarged side view, partly broken away, of the refrigerant evaporator and door assembly therefor illustrated in Fig. I viewed in the direc tion of the arrow indicated by the numeral 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the evaporator and door assembly therefor illustrated in Fig. 2 taken alon g'the line 33 of Fig. 2: and Fig.4 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of my invention. 7

I have provided a refrigerator cabinet l0 having thermally insulated walls enclosing a refrigerated food storage compartment ll, the opening I! in the front wall thereof being arranged to be closed by means of a thermally insulated door ll.

In order to cool the interior of" the compartment H, I have provided a cooling element of any suitable type, indicated bythe numeral l4, disposed in the upper portion of the compartment H. The complete refrigerant circulating system is not shown inasmuch as the details thereof form no part of the present invention. In order to provide forselective temperature conditions within the compartment H, a suitable control for the refrigerant circulating system is provided, a manually adjustable control member I! being provided for determining the range of operation of the refrigerating machinery. I have illustrated a drip tray i8 maintained below the cooling element or evaporator It as by means of a shelf Il suitably supported within the compartment H, the tray serving to receive any moisture dripping from the evaporator. 'If desired, the drip tray l8 may be replaced by a suitable food storage receptacle as a meat flan, for example, having a coverarranged to receive any drip from the evaporator incident to normal operation thereof.

Inorder to conceal the evaporator and drip tray or other receptacle I have provided a door assembly generally indicated by the numeral '8.

The door assembly It comprises a substantially imperforate inner closure member I! and an outer decorative bailie member 20 maintained in s aced relationship. In the form of my invention illustrated in Flgs.2 and 3, the members II and 20 are spaced-apart by means of suitable spacer elements 1! of any suitable material- The members 2| are preferably formed of a material having relatively poor heat conducting characteristics, such as stainless steel, for examle, in order to minimizethe transfer of heat between the inner and .outer members. The door assembly is suitably supported so that the inner member I! will be closely adjacent the front edges of the evaporator H in order to minimize the circulation of air throughthe open front thereof. The rear end of the evaporator is preferably closed to further limit air circulation within the walls of the cooling element or evaporator.

apart of the members I 8 and 20 permits the ,20. The circulatiiig 2 circulated by convection currents resulting from the operation of the cooling element H to pass in contact with both sides of the outer member .bo'x air being relatively warm will transfer heat to the outer decorative member thereby tending to maintainthe outer member at a temperature above the dewpoint of the box air so thatthe outer member will be maintained in a dry condition and dripping therefrom will not take place under normal conditions of temperature and humidity. Inasmuch as the inner member I9 is immediately adjacent the front edges of the evaporator l4, it will be cooled to a much lower temperature than the outer member so that any condensation taking place in the door assembly will be confined to the surfaces of the member 19. It will be observed that the member I! is extended below the bottom wall of the cooling element and I intend that this lower portion will be formed to conduct any condensation collecting thereon into the drip tray It or onto the upper surface of any food storage receptacle substituted therefor.

In the embodiment of my invention disclosed in Fig. 4, I have illustrated a door assembly for the evaporator H in which the outer member 20 is hingedly connected to a wall of the cooling unit. However, the inner member i9 is movably supported on the outer member. As illustrated in Fig. 4, this is accomplished by providing a plurality of pins 24 suitably secured to the outer member 20 and arranged to pass through suitable openings 25 in the inner member l9. In order to maintain the inner member iii in the proper position with respect to the pins 24, I have provided a suitable slotted collar 26, preferably of a material having relatively poor conductivity characteristics, slidably arranged on the pins and disposed in the openings 25 between the inner member l9 and the pins, the edges of the openings 25 extending into the peripherally extending slot 21 in the collar 26. A suitable enlarged head 28 is provided on the pins 24 to retain the inner door assembly on the pins. Suitable resilient means, such as coil springs 29, extending between the outer member 20 and the collars 2B, are provided for biasing the member l9 into a position immediately adjacent the edges of the evaporator ll, that is, to the openingclosing position of the inner element Hi. Inspection of Fig. 4 will make it apparent that this embodiment of my invention is so constructed and arranged that any portion of the inner member I9 is free to move away from the adjacent edge of the cooling element whereby any accumulation of frost on the edges of the evaporator will cause the inner member I9 to be moved away from the evaporator so that operation of the door assembly will be substantially unobstructed.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l In a refrigerator having a cooling compartment and a door for closing the access opening thereto, a cooling'element disposed in said compartment and having an opening at the front thereof, a door assembly associated therewith. said assembly comprising a substantially imperforate inner member constructed and arranged for closing said opening and an outer member spaced from said inner member, said members being constructed and arranged for permitting air circulation therebetween whereby said outer member is maintained at a temperature above the dewpoint of said air.

2. In a refrigerator having a cooling compartment and a door for closing an'access opening thereto, a cooling element disposed in said compartment and having an opening at the front thereof, a door assembly associated therewith, said assembly comprising an inner member constructed and arranged for closing said opening and an outer member spaced from said inner member, said members being constructed and arranged for permitting air circulation therebetween whereby said outer member is maintained at a temperature above the dewpoint of said air, and a receptacle disposed below sa d cooling element, said inner member being arranged to direct any condensation thereon into said receptacle.

3. In a refrigerator having a food storage compartment and a door for closing an access opening thereto, a cooling element disposed in said compartment having an opening at thefront thereof, a receptacle disposed below said cooling element, a door assembly comprising an inner member for closing said opening and an outer decorative member for concealing said element, said inner door and said receptacle, and means for limiting condensation of moisture to said inner member lncluding'means for spacing apart said members in such a manner as to permit air circulation therebetween and the maintenance of said outer member at a temperature above the dewpoint of said air.

4. In a refrigerator having a food storage compartment, a door for closing an access opening thereto, and a cooling element for cooling said compartment, said an opening at the front thereof, a closure member associated with said cooling element for closing said opening, means. for supporting said member, and resilient means associated with said member and said supporting means for biasing said member to its opening-closing position, said resilient and supporting means being so constructed and arranged that all portions of said member are free to move away from said cooling element whereby the accumulation of ice about said opening will cause said member tobe moved away from the cooling element so that operation of the member will remain substantially unobstructed.

5. In a refrigerator cabinet having a food storage compartment and a door for closing an access opening thereto, a cooling element disposed therein for cooling said compartment and having an opening at the front thereof, a door assembly for said opening comprising an outer member hinged to said cooling element and an inner member movably supported by said outer member and resilient means associated with said members for biasing said inner member to the opening-closing position, said means and said members being so constructed and arranged that accumulation of ice about said opening tends to move said inner member in order to permit substantially unobstructed operation of said door assembly.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet having a food storage compartment and a door for closing an access opening thereto, a cooling element disposed therein for cooling said compartment and having an opening at the front thereof, a door cooling element having assembly for said opening comprising an outer member hinged to said cooling element and the inner member movably supported by said outer member and resilient means associated with said members for biasing said inner member to the opening-closing position, said means and said members being so constructed and arranged that accumulation of ice about said opening tends .to

move said inner member in order to permit substantially unobstructed operation of said door, assembly, said members being' heat-insulated with respect to each other for minimizing the transmission of heat therebetween,

CARL H. STEENSTRUP. 

